LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

G  I  FT    OF 

A 

LX^vi/'trV) 


Class 


UBRARV 


AN   ADDRESS 


DELIVERED  AT  THE   OPENING   OF 


THE    LIBRARY    OF    CHRISTIAN    HALL, 


CHESTNUT    HILL. 


JANUARY  lo,  1871. 


BY 

Hon.  M.  RUSSELL  THAYER, 

ASSOCIATE  JUDGE  OF  THE  DISTRICT  COURT  FOR  THE  CITY  AND  COUNTY 
OF  PHILADELPHIA. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
'  KAY  &  BROTHER,  17  AND  19  SOUTH  SIXTH  STREET, 

LAW  BOOKSELLERS,  PUBLISHERS,  AND  IMPORTERS. 
187I. 


AN   ADDRESS 


DELIVERED   AT  THE  OPENING  OF 


THE    LIBRARY    OF    CHRISTIAN    HALL, 


CHESTNUT    HILL. 


JANUARY   lo,  1871. 


BY 

Hon.  M.  RUSSELL  THAYER, 

ASSOCIATE  JUDGE  OF  THE  DISTRICT  COURT  FOR  THE  CITY  AND  COUNTY 
OF  PHILADELPHIA. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

KAY  &  BROTHER,  17  AND  19  SOUTH  SIXTH  STREET, 

LAW  BOOKSELLERS,  PUBLISHERS,  AND  IMPORTERS. 

1871. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

COLLINS,    PRINTER. 


/'''";.^^ 


}^' 


:^. 


Chestnut  Hill, 

January  i8,  1 87 1. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Williams  : 

In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  send  to  you,  for  publica- 
tion, a  copy  of  the  Address  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the 
Hall  and  Library  which  you  have  established  at  Chestnut  Hill. 
It  affords  me  very  great  pleasure  to  have  my  name  connected, 
even  in  this  insignificant  manner,  with  the  foundation  of  an  in- 
stitution so  beneficial  in  its  character — an  institution  which 
owes  its  existence  entirely  to  your  generous  liberality  and  your 
desire  to  promote  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  people 
among  whom  you  dwell,  and  by  whom  you  are  so  much  re- 
spected and  beloved. 

Very  truly  yours, 

M.  R.  THAYER. 
Henry  J.  Williams,  Esq. 


174070. 


UNIVERSITY 

OF 


ADDRESS. 


That  which  most  distinguishes  civilized  from 
savage  man  is  the  art  of  reading  and  writing. 
These  are  the  principal  means  of  perpetuating 
human  ideas.  Words  spoken  are  like  the  winds 
which  come  and  go,  agitating  and  changing  for  a 
moment  the  face  of  nature,  but  leaving  behind 
them  no  enduring  monuments  of  their  influence, 
and  transmitting  to  the  future  nothing  but  the 
perishable  memory  of  their  momentary  power. 

Tradition,  by  which  I  mean  the  transmission  of 
ideas  from  one  generation  to  another  by  the  mere 
aid  of  human  memory,  resembles  those  streams  of 
which  we  read,  whose  sources  are  unknown, 
whose  waters  suddenly  vanish  from  the  surface  to 
reappear  in  distant  localities,  whose  currents  are 
changeable  and  uncertain,  and  whose  channels  are 
often  but  dry  and  rocky  beds  leaving  the  mind  of 
the  traveller  in  a  state  of  bewildered  conjecture. 
But  written  records  are  the  secure  depositories  of 
human  thoughts  and  human  actions.  They  are 
streams  which,  like  the  Amazon  or  the  Mississippi, 


6  AN  ADDRESS. 

flow  with  an  even  and  a  ceaseless  current,  bearing 
upon  their  bosoms  the  wealth  of  all  human  know- 
ledge and  the  burthens  of  all  human  experience. 
How  little  would  we  know  of  the  civilization  of 
ancient  Greece  or  Rome  if  we  did  not  possess  the 
written  memorials  of  them  which  have  come 
down  to  us,  few  and  fragmentary  though  they 
are.  Without  them  the  Acropolis,  the  beautiful 
and  solitary  ruins  whose  shadows  are  reflected  in 
the  waters  of  the  iEgean  Sea,  the  Forum,  the  Coli- 
seum, and  all  the  wonderful  monuments  of  ancient 
art,  would  be  but  riddles  to  baffle  and  perplex  the 
profoundest  investigations  of  man. 

What  we  know  of  the  history  of  the  race  of 
man  we  learn  from  the  records  which  have  sur- 
vived the  vicissitudes  of  time.  Where  such  records 
have  not  been  written,  or  where  they  have  been 
lost,  we  are  in  profound  ignorance,  and  are  left 
alone  to  the  most  uncertain  conjectures. 

In  the  wilderness  of  Central  America  the  tra- 
veller beholds  with  wonder  the  ruins  of  statues 
and  temples  which  are  the  evidences  of  civilization, 
of  wealth,  of  refinement,  and  of  power.  Sur- 
rounded and  overgrown  by  forests  a  thousand 
years  of  age  they  lie,  broken  and  defaced  memo- 
rials of  nations  whose  very  names  ages  ago  per- 
ished from  human  memory. 

The  natural  desire  of  men  to  preserve  for  future 
generations  and  for  themselves  the  records  of  their 


AN  ADDRESS.  J 

race  led  to  the  foundation  of  libraries.  In  their 
origin  these  consisted  of  the  archives  containing 
the  records  of  their  history  and  their  laws,  and 
they  were  usually  deposited  in  their  temples, 
which  were  considered  the  most  secure  places  in 
which  they  could  be  preserved.  Subsequently 
they  became,  with  the  rise  and  progress  of  litera- 
ture, places  of  deposit  for  books  of  all  kinds.  The 
most  ancient  library  of  which  we  have  any  record 
was  founded  by  Osymandias,  one  of  the  ancient 
kings  of  Egypt.  By  Champollion  and  Wilkinson 
the  place  of  its  deposit  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
monument  known  as  the  Memnonium.  The 
greatest  library  of  the  ancient  world  was  founded 
by  Ptolemy  Soter  at  Alexandria.  This  foundation 
took  place,  according  to  Josephus,  about  the  year 
290  B.  C.  This  library,  contained  in  two  buildings, 
increased  in  magnitude  through  several  centuries, 
until  it  is  said  to  have  contained  as  many  as 
700,000  volumes.  These  volumes  were  of  course 
rolls  of  parchment,  for  the  art  of  printing  did  not 
come  into  use  until  the  fifteenth  century.  One 
portion  of  this  library  is  commonly  supposed  to 
have  been  destroyed  by  fire  during  the  plunder  of 
the  city  by  the  troops  of  Alexander  the  Great. 
The  remainder  was  destroyed  by  the  Saracens 
under  the  orders  of  the  Caliph  Omar,  when  they 
acquired  possession  of  Alexandria,  A.  D.  642. 
Amrow,  the  victorious  general,  was,  it  is  said,  him- 


3  AN  ADDRESS. 

self  inclined  to  spare  this  great  treasury  of  science 
and  learning,  but  the  fanatical  Caliph  ordered  it 
to  be  destroyed,  saying,  "If  these  writings  of  the 
Greeks  agree  with  the  Koran,  they  are  useless  and 
need  not  be  preserved.  If  they  disagree,  they  are 
pernicious  and  ought  to  be  destroyed."  The  vol- 
umes of  parchment  or  papyrus  were  distributed  to 
the  four  thousand  baths  of  the  city,  and  such  was 
their  number  that  six  months  were  scarcely  suffi- 
cient for  their  combustion.  This  barbarous  act 
has  excited  the  indignation  and  unavailing  regrets 
of  scholars  and  men  of  letters  in  all  subsequent 
periods  of  the  world.  How  much  knowledge  of 
ancient  history,  science,  arts,  literature,  and  man- 
ners was  thus  forever  lost,  we  may  vainly  conceive, 
but  never  know. 

We  know  nothing  now  of  early  Jewish  litera- 
ture beyond  the  books  which  are  contained  in  the 
Old  Testament.  But  there  is  evidence  that  there 
existed  libraries  in  ancient  Judea.  In  the  Second 
Book  of  the  Maccabees,  Chapter  ii.  v.  13,  it  is 
thus  written :  "  The  same  things  also  were  re- 
ported in  the  writings  and  commentaries  of  Nee- 
mias ;  and  how  he,  founding  a  library,  gathered 
together  the  acts  of  the  kings,  and  the  prophets, 
and  of  David,  and  the  epistles  of  the  kings  con- 
cerning the  holy  gifts."  If  the  word  which  is 
here  translated  library  be  called  archives,  the 
meaning  is  still  the  same,  a  collection  of  books  or 


AN  ADDRESS.  g 

records.  In  the  Book  of  Ezra,  Chapter  vi.  v.  i, 
it  is  said  :  "  Then  Darius  the  king  made  a  decree, 
and  search  was  made  in  the  house  of  the  rolls 
where  the  treasures  were  laid  up  in  Babylon," 
which  shows  that  there  were  in  ancient  Persia 
libraries  or  collections  at  least  of  historical  and 
legal  records.  There  are  also  many  proofs  extant 
that  there  were  in  ancient  Greece  numerous  and 
extensive  libraries.  In  ancient  Rome  there  were 
many  libraries.  That  of  Lucullus  had  a  wide 
celebrity.  The  number  of  his  volumes  was  im- 
mense, and  it  was  the  resort  of  all  men  of  letters 
who  visited  Rome.  Numerous  public  libraries 
were  founded  by  Augustus  and  his  successors,  the 
most  celebrated  of  which  was  established  by  the 
Emperor  Trajan,  who  is  said  to  have  commanded 
all  the  books  which  could  be  found  in  the  cities 
he  had  conquered  to  be  immediately  conveyed  to 
Rome  in  order  to  increase  his  collection. 

When  Constantine  made  Byzantium  the  seat  of 
his  empire  he  founded  a  library  which  grew  under 
his  successors  until  it  contained  120,000  volumes. 
Of  these  more  than  one  half  were  burned  in  the 
seventh  century  by  command  of  the  Emperor 
Leo  III.,  in  order,  it  is  supposed,  to  destroy  the 
books  which  he  thought  stood  in  the  way  of  his 
opposition  to  the  worship  of  images.  In  this 
library  is  said  to  have  been  deposited  the  only 
authentic  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Council 


I  o  AN  ADDRESS. 

of  Nice,  and  it  is  also  said  to  have  contained  the 
poems  of  Homer  written  in  gold  letters,  and  a 
magnificent  copy  of  the  five  gospels  bound  in  gold 
and  enriched  v^^ith  precious  stones,  all  of  which 
were  lost  in  the  conflagration. 

Whatever  differences  of  opinion  may  exist  upon 
the  subject  of  monastic  institutions,  it  is  impossible 
to  deny  that  during  that  gloomy  period  in  which 
the  civilization  of  Europe  was  overcast  by  the 
darkness  which  fell  upon  it  like  a  long  and 
dreary  night  when  the  Eastern  barbarians  invaded 
Italy  and  the  other  States  of  the  Western  Empire, 
the  monastic  houses  did  much  to  ameliorate  the 
miserable  condition  of  society.  Amid  the  uni- 
versal storm  which  overthrew  all  civil  institutions, 
and  the  violence  which  desolated  alike  the  culti- 
vated fields,  the  marts  of  trade,  the  establishments 
of  learning,  the  resorts  of  industry,  the  seats  of 
science,  and  the  abodes  of  art,  the  religious  houses 
furnished  the  only  secure  places  of  refuge.  Within 
their  inviolable  walls  religion  was  preserved.  At 
their  gates  the  poor  were  fed,  and  beneath  their 
roofs  the  persecuted  and  the  sick  found  shelter. 
Not  the  least  service  which  they  rendered  to  the 
world  was  the  preservation  of  those  monuments  of 
ancient  literature  which  have  come  down  to  us.  It 
is  chiefly  to  the  labors  of  the  inmates  of  monastic 
establishments  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  classic 
remains  which  we  now  possess,  and   for  the  pre- 


AN  ADDRESS.  j  i 

servatlon  of  the  sacred  books  which  they  carefully 
transcribed.     In  those  beneficent  labors  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict  occupy  a  conspi- 
cuous place  in  history.     The  Benedictines  were 
among  the  earliest  and  most  devoted  pioneers  of 
European    civilization,  and  did  much  to   rebuild 
its  foundations  and  repair  its  desolated  places.     In 
their  seat  at  St.  Maur,  and  in  those  English  com- 
munities which  may  be  regarded  as  ofl^shoots  from 
it,  such  as  those  at   Yarrow,  Bury  St.  Edmonds, 
Croyland,  Whitby,  Reading,  and  St.  Albans,  they 
labored  constantly  and  earnestly  in  the  collection 
and  transcription  of  books.     In  every  monastery 
was  a  scriptorium.     The  business  of  transcribing 
books  was  a  part  of  the  regular  occupation  of  the 
monks,  and  consumed   a  considerable  portion  of 
their    time.       To    this    system    of    transcription 
methodically  and  industriously  carried  on  in   the 
religious  houses  we  are  indebted  for  almost  every- 
thing  that    remains    to    us   of   ancient   learning. 
From    Constantinople,   from   Mount  Athos,  from 
the  Monasteries  of  the  Morea,  Euboea,  Crete,  Ca- 
labria, Naples,  and  other  countries  were  derived 
those  precious   manuscripts  which  convey   to    us 
almost  the  only  knowledge  we  possess  of  ancient 
literature.      Much   has    been   written    about    the 
monks  and  monastic  institutions.     Whatever  faults 
may  have  belonged  to  them  or  to  their  religious 
system   we  may  say   of  them,   nevertheless,   that 


I  2  AN  ADDRESS. 

without  the  monks  the  dark  ages  would  have  been 
dark  indeed.* 

About  the  year  1440,  in  the  quaint  Dutch 
town  Haarlem,  lived  an  old  man  named  Lau- 
rence Coster,  of  meditative  disposition  and  soli- 
tary habits.  In  his  afternoon  rambles  he  was 
accustomed  to  sit  down  in  the  woods  and  to  cut 
alphabets  out  of  the  bark  of  trees  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  his  grandchildren.  One  day  having  shaped 
the  letters  with  more  care  than  usual,  he  wrapped 
them  in  a  piece  of  parchment.  When  he  opened 
the  package  on  reaching  home  he  was  surprised 
to  observe  the  distinct  impression  which  some  of 
the  bark  letters,  moist  with  sap,  had  left  upon  the 
parchment.  This  accident  revealed  to  him  the 
art  of  printing.  He  carved  another  set  of  letters, 
taking  care  to  reverse  them  so  that  the  impression 
might  be  in  the  proper  position,  and  dipping  them 
in  ink  pressed  them  upon  a  piece  of  parchment. 
The  result  was  a  coarse  print,  but  probably  nearly 
as  good  as  the  block  pictures  and  block  books  in 
use  in  those  days.  From  being  at  first  an  amuse- 
ment printing  soon  became  the  chief  occupation 
of  his  life.  He  subsequently  invented  a  thicker 
and  more  glutinous  kind  of  ink,  which  made 
clearer  impressions.      He  also  learned  to  make  the 

*  See  upon  this  subject  Taylor's  History  of  the  Transmission  of 
Ancient  Books  to  Modern  Times. 


AN  ADDRESS. 


13 


letters  of  lead  instead  of  wood,  and  improved  the 
invention  in  other  respects.  John  Guttenberg, 
then  on  his  travels  through  Holland,  is  said  to  have 
derived  the  invention  from  Coster,  and  to  have 
subsequently  set  up  in  the  business  at  Strasbourg, 
in  company  w^ith  John  Fust  and  his  son-in-law 
Schoeffer.  This  is  the  commonly  received  ac- 
count of  the  invention  of  the  art  of  printing.  By 
some  writers,  however,  it  is  claimed  that  Gutten- 
berg was  himself  the  original  inventor,  while 
others  have  assigned  the  honor  to  Fust.  The 
story  of  the  devil  and  Dr.  Faustus  is  said  by  Mr. 
D'Israelli,  in  his  Curiosities  of  Literature,  to  have 
arisen  in  this  manner :  When  Fust  had  printed  a 
considerable  number  of  copies  of  the  Bible  to 
imitate  those  which  were  commonly  sold  as  manu- 
scripts, he  repaired  to  Paris  to  sell  them.  It  was 
his  interest  to  conceal  the  discovery,  and  to  pass 
off  his  printed  copies  for  manuscripts,  because  he 
sold  his  Bibles  at  sixty  crowns  while  the  manu- 
script copies  brought  five  hundred.  This  excited 
universal  astonishment,  which  was  increased  by 
the  rapidity  with  which  he  produced  them. 
Information  was  given  to  the  magistrates  against 
him,  and  in  searching  his  lodgings  a  large  num- 
ber of  copies  was  found.  The  brilliant  red  ink 
with  which  he  embellished  his  copies  was  said  to 
be  his  blood,  and  he  was  adjudged  to  be  in  league 


J  4  AN  ADDRESS. 

with  the  devil.  To  save  himself  from  a  bonfire 
he  was  obliged  to  reveal  his  art,  when  he  was  dis- 
charged from  further  prosecution. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  now  to  appreciate  fully  the 
magnitude  of  the  revolution  which  has  been  ef- 
fected in  human  affairs  by  the  art  of  printing.  If 
we  turn  our  minds  back  to  the  fourteenth  century, 
and  observe  the  universal  ignorance  which  then 
pervaded  all  ranks  and  conditions  of  society,  and 
the  superstition,  oppression,  disorder,  and  violence 
which  characterized  those  times,  and  then  con- 
trast that  state  of  society  with  the  civilization,  the 
liberty,  the  refinement,  the  culture,  the  general 
education,  and  the  flourishing  condition  of  the 
arts  and  sciences  which  prevail  in  the  world  at  the 
present  time,  we  shall  form  some  just  conception 
of  the  changes  in  the  world  which  are  to  be  as- 
cribed chiefly  to  the  dissemination  of  knowledge 
by  the  printing  press. 

The  newspaper  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  in- 
ventions of  modern  times.  Whether  we  regard  it 
as  the  means  of  acquainting  us  with  the  everyday 
life  and  history  of  the  world,  as  a  vehicle  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  popular  information,  as  the  champion 
of  popular  rights,  and  chief  conservator  of  liberty, 
or  whether  we  consider  merely  its  agency  in  carry- 
ing on  the  commerce  and  business  of  the  world, 
we  shall  still  see  that  no  invention  of  modern 
society  plays  so  great  a  part  or  exercises  so  great  an 


AN  ADDRESS.  1 5 

influence  upon  its  institutions  as  this.  It  is  to  the 
modern  world  what  the  Forum  was  to  ancient 
Rome,  at  once  a  market-place,  a  tribunal,  and  a 
place  where  everything  is  considered  and  debated. 
In  England  it  has  been  called  the  fourth  estate  of 
the  realm,  and  its  power  in  this  country  is  greater 
than  it  is  in  England.  The  newspaper  had  its 
origin  in  the  news-letter  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
The  first  journalists  were  the  writers  of  news- 
letters. Originally  they  were  the  dependents  of 
great  men,  who  were  employed  in  keeping  their 
masters  well  informed  in  regard  to  what  trans- 
pired at  court  during  their  absence.  What  was 
at  first  a  duty  of  a  particular  class  grew  at  length 
into  a  profession.  Men  made  a  business  of  writ- 
ing news-letters.  Each  writer  had  his  subscrip- 
tion list,  and  for  a  fixed  stipend  sent  periodically 
to  each  of  his  subscribers  a  letter  acquainting  him 
with  all  the  current  news  of  the  day.  The  idea 
of  publishing  a  ^r/«W  news-letter  or  newspaper 
arose  naturally  out  of  this  practice.  There  is  in 
the  British  Museum  a  copy  of  a  newspaper  called 
The  English  Mercury,  which  purports  to  have 
been  printed  in  1588,  and  which  was  successfully 
imposed  upon  many  scholars  and  learned  men  as 
a  genuine  publication  ;  but  it  has  been  demon- 
strated by  incontestable  proofs  to  be  a  forgery. 

The  first  periodical  newspaper  was  published  in 
England  on  the  23d  of  May,  1622,  by  Nathaniel 


l6  AN  ADDRESS. 

Butler,  Nicholas  Bourne,  and  Thomas  Archer. 
It  was  called  "  The  Weekly  News  from  Italy, 
Germany,  &c."  In  November,  1641,  when  the 
troubles  commenced  between  Charles  I.  and  the 
Parliament,  the  proceedings  of  Parliament  began 
first  to  be  regularly  published  in  the  form  of  a 
newspaper,  and  within  four  or  five  years  from  that 
time  many  newspapers  were  established,  most  of 
them  being  issued  weekly.  One  of  these,  "The 
Mercurius  Britannicus,"  attained  a  great  repu- 
tation and  influence.  It  was  first  issued  on  the 
22d  of  August,  1643,  by  Marchmont  Nedham, 
who  seems  to  have  been  the  great  prototype  of 
that  class  of  venal  and  unprincipled  editors,  now 
unfortunately  not  small  in  number.  Nedham  first 
wrote  for  the  Presbyterians  and  Parliamentarians ; 
then  he  was  bought  over  and  wrote  for  the  Roy- 
alists. But  when  the  royal  cause  began  to  wane 
he  turned  over  again  and  wrote  for  the  Independ- 
ents and  Parliamentarians.  After  the  Restoration 
a  monopoly  of  newspapers  was  granted  by  a  royal 
patent  to  one  Roger  L'Estrange,  who  by  the  terms 
of  the  royal  grant  had  the  sole  privilege  of  writing, 
printing,  and  publishing  all  narratives,  advertise- 
ments, mercuries,  intelligences,  diurnals,  and  other 
books  of  intelligences,  with  power  to  search  for 
and  seize  unlicensed  books  and  papers.  We  may 
judge  of  L'Estrange's  principles  and  of  his  quality 
as  a  newspaper  editor  and  sole  master  of  the  Eng- 


AN  ADDRESS.  1 7 

lish  press,  by  the  following  extract  from  the  first 
number  of  his  Intelligencer :  **  Supposing,"  says 
he,  "  the  press  to  be  in  order,  the  people  in  their 
right  wits,  and  news  or  no  news  to  be  the  ques- 
tion, a  public  mercury  should  never  have  my 
vote,  because  I  think  it  makes  the  public  too 
familiar  with  the  actions  and  counsels  of  their 
superiors,  too  pragmatical  and  censorious,  and  gives 
them  not  only  an  itch,  but  a  kind  of  colorable 
right  and  license  to  be  meddling  with  the  govern- 
ment." 

On  the  5th  of  February,  1666,  appeared  the 
first  number  of  the  "London  Gazette,"  and  from 
that  time  to  the  present,  nearly  two  centuries,  it 
has  been  published  regularly  twice  a  week.  The 
first  daily  newspaper,  "The  Daily  Courant,"  edited 
and  published  by  Samuel  Buckley,  was  estab- 
lished in  1703,  immediately  after  the  accession 
of  Queen  Anne.  Dr.  Johnson  writing  some  years 
later  (1758),  utters  a  complaint  which  some  of  us 
perhaps  may  think  might  with  equal  propriety 
occasionally  be  indulged  in  at  the  present  time. 
"Journals  are  daily  multiplied  without  increase  of 
knowledge.  The  tale  of  the  morning  paper  is 
told  in  the  evening,  and  the  narratives  of  the 
evening  are  bought  again  in  the  morning." 

The    London  "Times"  dates  from  January  i, 
1788,  when  it  was  established  by  John  Walter,  to 
whom  the  world  is  chiefly  indebted  for  the  sub- 
2 


1 8  'an  address. 

stitution  of  the  steam  printing  press  for  the  old- 
fashioned  hand- press,  a  change  scarcely  inferior  in 
the  importance  of  its  results  to  the  original  inven- 
tion of  the  art   itself.     Since   the   days   of  Coster 
and   Guttenberg    there    has    been   but   one    great 
revolution  in  the  art  of  printing,  and  that  was  the 
introduction  of  steam  printing  by  John  Walter,  in 
1 8 14.       Upon   this    enterprise   he  had   expended 
many  years  of  anxious  thought  and  a  great  amount 
of  money,  w^hen  his  efforts  were  finally  rendered 
successful  by  the  labors  of  two  ingenious  mechanics, 
Koenig  and  Bower.     The   night   on   which   this 
curious  machine  was  first  brought  into  use  in  the 
Times  building  was  one  of  great  anxiety  and  alarm. 
For  the  pressmen,  hearing  vague  rumors  of  the 
invention,  had  threatened   destruction  to  any  one 
who  should  attempt  to  supersede  their  labor  by  new 
machinery.     They  were   directed    to    detain   the 
presses  for  expected  news  from  the  continent.     It 
was  about  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  Mr. 
Walter  went  into  the  press-room  and  astonished 
the  pressmen  by  telling  them  that  the  Times  was 
already  printed  by  steam  ;  that  if  they  attempted 
violence  there  was  a   force   at   hand   prepared  to 
suppress  it,  but  that  if  they  were  peaceable  their 
wages  would  be  continued  until  they  could  pro- 
cure   other    employment,  a    promise   which   was 
faithfully  kept. 

It  is  the  fashion  among  some  people  to  decry 


AN  ADDRESS.  1 9 

the  newspaper  press  and  all  other  useful  institu- 
tions of  modern  society.  That  there  are  great 
and  weighty  evils  atttendant  upon  it  no  one  can 
doubt.  Evil  is  in  this  world  everywhere  min- 
gled with  good.  The  forces  of  beneficent  na- 
ture threaten  us  with  constant  evil  as  they  en- 
velop us  with  constant  good.  But  he  who  cannot 
discern  the  good  from  the  evil  must  be  blind  in- 
deed. In  the  end  the  good  will  always  overcome 
the  evil.  The  newspaper  is  the  child  of  liberty 
and  of  a  new  civilization.  It  is  the  mouth-piece 
of  the  people.  It  is  the  organ  of  free  thought 
and  free  discussion.  It  has  pulled  down  many  a 
tyrannical  minister  from  his  seat  of  power.  It  has 
crowned  with  victory  many  a  just  cause  weak  and 
powerless  in  its  beginnings.  It  has  redressed  many 
great  wrongs  and  reformed  many  great  abuses. 
It  has  built  many  great  works.  It  has  torn  the 
mask  from  many  a  false  pretender,  and  brought 
into  the  light  many  an  obscure  genius.  It  has 
fostered  trade,  and  commerce,  and  art,  and  science. 
It  is  the  eye  by  which  we  look  abroad  over  the 
whole  world,  the  ear  by  which  we  hear  the  most 
distant  whispers  of  our  race,  the  tongue  by  which 
we  speak  to  thousands  in  the  same  moment,  the 
many-handed  agent  by  which  we  accomplish 
what  is  too  much  for  single  hands  to  do. 

But  I  return  from  this  digression  to  the  subject 
of  books  and  libraries.     By  the   introduction  of 


20  AN  ADDRESS. 

the  art  of  printing  books  became  forever  exempt 
from  the  law  which  subjects  the  productions  of 
man  to  destruction  and  decay ;  for  the  multipli- 
cation of  copies  places  them  beyond  the  accidents 
and  vicissitudes  which  attend  upon  human  affairs. 
Of  all  the  modern  libraries  the  Imperial  Library 
at  Paris  is  considered  the  finest  in  the  world.     It 
was  founded    by   King    John,   in    the   fourteenth 
century,  and  he  is  said  to  have  commenced  it  with 
only  twenty  books.     It  was  largely  increased  by 
the    French    King   Charles   V.     Henry   IV.   was 
also    its    munificent  benefactor.     Thenceforward, 
it    constantly    increased.     In    1790    it    numbered 
200,000  volumes.     Then   came    the  large  acces- 
sions  derived    from   the   plunder   of  the   French 
conquests.     In  1857  it  numbered  815,000  printed 
volumes  and  84,000  manuscripts.     Paris  has  also 
many  other  splendid  libraries,  such  as  the  Maza- 
rine Library,  containing  132,000  printed  volumes 
and  3000  MSS. ;  the  Library  of  the  Arsenal,  con- 
taining   upwards   of   200,000  volumes  and    6000 
MSS. ;  the  Library  of  St.  Genevieve,  the  City  Li- 
brary, the  Library  of  the  Luxembourg,  the  Uni- 
versity Library,  and  the  Library  of  the  Institute, 
which    is    a    very    valuable    collection    of   works 
relating     to    science    and     the    most    important 
branches  of  human  knowledge.     In  the    present 
state  of  affairs  at  Paris  it  is  impossible  not  to  feel 
the  deepest  solicitude  for  the  safety  of  these  ad- 


AN  ADDRESS.  2 1 

mirable  collections.  The  world  would  indeed 
sustain  an  irreparable  loss  if  they  should  fall  a  prey 
to  the  devastating  agencies  of  war.* 

The  library  of  the  Vatican  at  Rome  is  filled 
with  incalculable  treasures.  This  library  was 
founded  by  Pope  Nicholas  V.  in  1447.  The  vol- 
umes are  estimated  at  100,000,  and  the  manu- 
scripts, which  constitute  its  chief  wealth,  at 
25,000.  These  manuscripts  are  of  inestimable 
value,  and  include  some  of  the  highest  antiquity, 
such  as  the  Virgil  of  the  fourth  or  fifth  century, 
a  copy  of  Terence,  equally  ancient,  the  celebrated 
Greek  Bible  of  the  sixth  century,  written  in  capi- 
tal letters  according  to  the  Septuagint  version,  and 
from  which  all  the  subsequent  copies  have  been 
taken,  and  the  Gospels  of  St.  John  and  St.  Luke 
written  in  the  tenth  century.  There  is  also  the 
palimpsest,  containing  the  treatise  of  Cicero  de 
Republica,  supposed  to  be  of  the  third  century. 
This  and  the  Virgil  are,  in  the  form  of  books, 
considered  the  oldest  manuscripts  in  existence. 
There  are  also  in  this  splendid  collection  many 
MS.  Bibles  in  Hebrew,  Syriac,  Arabic,  and  Arme- 
nian. For  one  of  these,  a  large  Hebrew  Bible, 
so   heavy  as   to  require    two  men   to   carry  it,  the 

*  The  Imperial  Library  of  Paris  has  escaped  injury,  but  the  fine 
old  Library  of  Strasbourg,  founded  in  1510,  containing  180,000 
volumes,  and  rich  in  early  printed  books  and  valuable  MSS.,  was 
destroyed  during  the  recent  siege  of  that  place. 


22  AN  ADDRESS. 

Venetian  Jews  are  said  to  have  offered  its  weight 
in  gold.  Besides  these,  there  are  a  Greek  MS. 
containing  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  written  in  gold 
letters,  and  presented  to  Innocent  VIII.  by  the 
Queen  of  Cyprus,  a  missal  written  in  1118,  very 
ancient  MSS,  of  Pliny,  Horace,  Caesar,  Plautus, 
and  other  ancient  classical  writers.  Here  also  are 
multitudes  of  other  MSS.  of  more  modern  date, 
but  possessing  the  greatest  interest ;  as,  for  exam- 
ple, a  copy  of  the  Divina  Commedia  of  Dante  in 
the  handwriting  of  Boccaccio  and  sent  by  him  to 
Petrarch,  autograph  MSS.  of  Petrarch  and  Tasso, 
the  love-letters  of  Henry  VIII.  to  Anne  Boleyn, 
and  by  their  side  a  copy  of  his  treatise  against 
Luther  (printed  in  15 10),  which  he  presented  to 
Pope  Leo,  with  the  king's  compliments  in  his 
own  handwriting  on  the  last  page ;  being  the 
work  which  obtained  for  him  the  title  of  De- 
fender of  the  faith,  and  to  which  Luther  pub- 
lished a  reply,  in  which,  after  first  disrobing  the 
king  of  his  royal  authority  as  a  disputant,  he 
pounded  him  and  his  treatise  into  small  fragments 
like  any  common  clay. 

The  Vatican  Library  is  also  rich  in  the  earliest 
specimens  of  the  art  of  printing,  and  in  medals 
and  engravings.  In  short,  it  is  a  great  store-house 
or  museum  of  ancient  curiosities.  As  a  library,  in 
the  modern  sense  of  that  word — a  collection  of 
books  for  reading  or  reference — it  holds  out  few 


AN  ADDRESS.  23 

advantages.  The  restrictions  imposed  make  it 
exceedingly  difficult  of  access.  The  books  are 
kept  in  closed  cases  and  are  invisible,  and  the 
privilege  of  consulting  them  is  merely  nominal. 
There  are  few  days  in  the  year  in  which  it  is 
open  to  the  public.  Mr.  Samuel  Laing,  in  his 
Notes  of  a  Traveller,  says  of  it,  "Of  all  the  tombs 
in  the  world  the  Vatican  Library  is  the  most 
impressive." 

The  library  of  the  British  Museum  at  London 
is  the  great  English   depository  of  science,  litera- 
ture, art,  and  antiquities.     The  museum  owes  its 
origin,  in  1753,  to  the  bequest  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane. 
The  department  of  printed  books  consisted  origi- 
nally of  Sloane's  Library,  which  has  been  increased 
by  the  addition  of  various  collections   from  time 
to   time,  and    the   addition   of  large  numbers  of 
valuable  manuscripts.     In   1757  George  IL  added 
to  it  the  library  of  the  kings  of  England,  and  the 
royal  library  of  George  IIL  was  presented  to  it  in 
1823,  by  his  successor  George  IV.     Many  private 
libraries   of  great  value   have  also   from   time   to 
time  found  their   way  thither,  including  those  of 
Archbishop     Cranmer,    Robert    Harley    Earl    of 
Oxford,  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  Isaac  Casau- 
bon,  David  Garrick,  Dr.  Charles  Burney,  Francis 
Hargrave,  Sir  Robert  Cotton,  Sir  Joseph  Banks, 
Right  Hon.  Thomas  Grenville,  the  Earl  of  Bridg- 
water, and  many  others.    The  number  of  volumes 


24 


AN  ADDRESS. 


in  1857  ^^^  562,000.  The  department  of  manu- 
scripts in  the  British  Museum  is  very  rich,  particu- 
larly in  documents  relating  to  English  history. 
The  number  of  valuable  manuscripts  exceeds 
40,000.  All  these  books  and  manuscripts  are 
accessible,  and  a  reading-room  of  unequalled 
magnitude  is  provided,  containing  all  appliances 
which  may  render  this  vast  collection  useful  to 
the  public. 

The  Bodleian  Library  of  the  University  of 
Oxford  was  founded  near  the  close  of  the  reign 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  by  Sir  Thomas  Bodley,  who, 
becoming  disgusted  with  politics,  retired  from 
public  life,  and  betook  himself  to  the  collection  of 
books.  The  Oriental  manuscripts  there  to  be 
seen  are  said  to  be  the  rarest  and  most  beautiful 
in  Europe.  The  whole  number  of  printed  books 
in  the  library  is  upwards  of  256,000,  and  the 
volumes  of  manuscripts  22,000.* 

There  is,  in  a  magnificent  structure  built  by 
Sir  Christopher  Wren,  a  very  excellent  library  at 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  which  contains  many 
rare  literary  curiosities  ;   among  them  many  origi- 

*  The  number  of  volumes  contained  in  the  chief  European  libra- 
ries mentioned  is  brought  down  only  to  the  year  1857,  and  is  stated 
upon  the  authority  of  the  tables  compiled  by  Mr.  Edward  Ed- 
wards, the  author  of  Memoirs  of  Libraries,  to  whom  I  am  also 
indebted  for  many  other  important  facts  here  mentioned  relative  to 
the  origin  and  general  character  of  these  libraries. 


AN  ADDRESS.  25 

nal  writings  of  John  Milton  and  Sir  Isaac  Newton. 
There  are  also  in  England  many  very  valuable  pri- 
vate libraries;  among  the  chief  of  which  may  be 
mentioned  those  of  Earl  Spencer  at  Althorp,  and 
Sir  Thomas  Phillipps  in  Worcestershire,  each  of 
them  containing  more  than  50,000  volumes.  The 
former  contains  one  of  the  finest  collections  of 
books  in  the  world  illustrating  the  history  of  the 
art  of  printing. 

The  fine  library  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin, 
owes  its  foundation  to  a  singular  circumstance. 
In  the  year  1601  the  Spaniards  were  defeated  at 
Kinsale  by  the  English.  The  soldiers  commemo- 
rated their  victory  by  raising  among  themselves  a 
subscription  of  £1800,  which  they  applied  to  the 
purchase  of  books  for  the  foundation  of  a  library 
in  Trinity  College.  The  purchase  of  the  books 
was  confided  to  Archbishop  Usher.  It  had  been 
his  purpose  to  bequeath  his  own  library  consisting 
of  10,000  volumes  to  the  college  also,  but  his 
poverty  compelled  him  to  leave  it  as  a  provision 
for  his  daughter.  Thereupon  the  English  officers 
and  soldiers  in  Ireland,  emulating  the  example  of 
their  predecessors,  bought  it  and  presented  it  to 
the  college.  War  has  destroyed  more  books  than 
the  tooth  of  time,  and  it  is  pleasing  to  record  an 
instance  in  which  it  added  to  the  stock  of  human 
knowledge. 


26  AN  ADDRESS. 

The  Imperial  Library  at  St.  Petersburg  belongs 
to  the  first-class  of  European  libraries,  containing 
at  least  600,000  volumes,  and  more  than  21,000 
manuscripts.  The  largest  and  most  valuable  por- 
tion of  these  books  originally  belonged  to  the 
magnificent  library  established  by  Count  Zaluski, 
at  Warsav^.  The  Russians  under  Suwarrov^,  in 
1795,  seized  the  Zaluski  library  and  carried  it  off 
to  St.  Petersburg ;  a  spoliation,  the  infamy  of 
which  well  accords  with  the  tyranny  which 
crushed  out  the  national  life  of  Poland. 

There  is  within  the  walls  of  the  Seraglio  at 
Constantinople  a  library  belonging  to  the  Sultan, 
which  for  many  years  excited  the  curiosity  of 
literary  men,  because  it  was  supposed  that  there 
perhaps  might  be  preserved  the  ancient  collections 
of  the  Greek  Emperors,  and  that  many  books  of 
the  ancient  world  might  be  secreted  in  its  hidden 
recesses,  but  modern  investigations  have  disap- 
pointed these  expectations. 

There  are  many  great  and  famous  libraries  in 
other  parts  of  Europe,  with  an  account  of  which 
I  will  not  now  detain  you.  Among  the  greatest 
of  them  may  be  enumerated  the  Royal  Library  at 
Madrid,  the  Ambrosian  Library  at  Milan,  the 
Bologna  Library,  the  library  founded  by  Cosmo 
de  Medici  at  Florence,  the  Royal  Library  at  Na- 
ples, the  Imperial  Library  at  Vienna,  the  Royal 
Library  at  Dresden,  the  libraries  attached  to  the 


AN  ADDRESS. 


27 


Universities  of  Gottingen  and  Heidelberg,  the 
public  libraries  at  Stuttgart,  said  to  contain  the 
largest  collection  of  Bibles  in  the  world,  amount- 
ing to  8544  volumes  in  60  different  languages, 
the  Royal  Libraries  at  Copenhagen  and  Stock- 
holm, and  various  celebrated  libraries  in  Holland, 
Belgium,  Hungary,  and  Switzerland.  I  have  not 
time  upon  the  present  occasion,  nor  is  it  within 
the  scope  of  my  present  purpose,  to  enter  into  any 
particular  account  of  all  these  various  and  famous 
depositories  of  books. 

But  I  must  not  pass  from  this  subject  without  a 
brief  reference  to  the  public  libraries  of  the  United 
States.  The  Library  of  Harvard  College  was 
commenced  as  early  as  1638,  but  in  1764  a  fire 
occurred  in  the  college  buildings  which  destroyed 
it,  but  a  new  one  was  soon  commenced,  which,  by 
the  vigorous  efforts  of  its  friends,  and  the  liberal 
aid  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  has  grown 
into  a  very  large  and  valuable  collection. 

In  the  year  1700,  each  of  the  ten  founders  of 
Yale  College  brought  to  the  meeting,  at  which 
they  assembled,  some  books,  and,  laying  them  on 
the  table,  said  :  **  I  give  these  books  for  the  found- 
ing of  a  college  in  this  colony ;"  but  the  library 
was  really  established  by  Bishop  Berkeley  thirty 
years  afterwards,  who  sent  over  the  finest  collec- 
tion of  books  which  up  to  that  time  had  been 
seen  in  America. 


28  AN  ADDRESS. 

In  1 73 1  Benjamin  Franklin  founded  the  Phila- 
delphia Library.  A  charter  was  obtained  in  1742. 
"This,"  says  Franklin  in  his  autobiography,  "was 
the  mother  of  all  the  North  American  subscrip- 
tion libraries."  James  Logan,  the  friend  and 
counsellor  of  Wm.  Penn,  had  formed  a  valuable 
collection  of  books,  and  had  given  them  to  trus- 
tees in  Philadelphia  for  public  use.  Another  col- 
lection made  in  England  by  his  brother  had 
increased  this,  and  in  1792  an  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Pennsylvania  united  the  Loganian  Library 
with  that  which  had  been  founded  by  Franklin. 
The  Philadelphia  Library  is  now  one  of  the  best 
in  the  country,  and  contains  about  92,000  vol- 
umes. 

There  is  an  excellent  library  at  the  University 
of  Virginia,  which  was  selected  and  originally 
arranged  by  Jefferson.  There  is  a  very  large  and 
fine  library  at  the  Boston  Athenagum,  which  con- 
tains a  portion  of  the  library  of  Washington.  The 
free  library  of  the  city  of  Boston  is  also  worthy  of 
mention,  not  only  for  the  number  and  value  of  its 
books,  but  more  especially  for  the  liberal  and 
generous  character  of  its  foundation.  There  is  also 
a  large  and  excellent  collection  at  Brown  Univer- 
sity in  Rhode  Island.  There  is  a  valuable  library 
in  almost  every  college  in  the  country.  In  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Cincinnati,  and  St. 
Louis    there    are    large    and    valuable    mercantile 


AN  ADDRESS. 


29 


libraries ;  and  there  are  State  libraries  in  almost 
every  capital  in  the  United  States. 

In  1849  ^^^  foundation  of  a  magnificent  library 
in  New  York  was  laid  by  the  generous  bequest  of 
$400,000  for  that  purpose  by  John  Jacob  Astor. 
It  has  since  been  largely  increased  by  the  benefac- 
tions of  Mr.  W.  B.  Astor,  the  son  of  the  founder, 
and  is  now  probably  the  finest  collection  of  books 
in  this  country. 

In  1 81 5  the  first  library  of  Congress  was  de- 
stroyed by  the  British  army.  A  second  was 
founded,  and  that  was  partially  burned  in  1851. 
It  contained  at  that  time  more  than  50,000  vol- 
umes, of  which  about  20,000  only  were  saved. 
It  has  since  been  greatly  increased  by  liberal  ap- 
propriations of  the  government,  and  is  now  a 
large  and  valuable  collection  of  miscellanous 
books,  the  number  of  volumes  being  about 
197,000.  There  is  also  in  the  Smithsonian  In- 
stitution at  Washington  a  valuable  collection  of 
books  on  scientific  subjects.  By  the  census  of 
i860,  the  public  and  college  libraries  in  the 
United  States  were,  in  number,  10,353,  contain- 
ing about  9,000,000  books.  The  number  of 
private  libraries  was  set  down  at  about  8000. 
But  these  figures  are  totally  unreliable,  owing  to 
the  absence  of  returns.  In  all  probability  the 
number  of  private  libraries  containing  a  sufficient 
number  of  volumes  to  entitle  them  to  be  included 


30 


AN  ADDRESS. 


in  the  enumeration  was  six  or  eight  times,  per- 
haps ten  times  the  number  returned.  There  are 
also  many  large  collections  of  books  contained  in 
the  school  libraries  which  are  scattered  thickly 
over  the  vast  expanse  of  our  country  from  Boston 
to  San  Francisco. 

I  have  thought  it  not  inappropriate  to  the  pre- 
sent occasion,  to  enter  into  this  general  and  brief 
notice  of  the  libraries  of  the  world.  The  Library, 
which  through  the  generous  liberality  of  our 
highly  respected  friend  and  neighbor  Mr.  Henry 
J.  Williams,  is  opened  for  public  use  in  this  place 
to-night,  does  not  aspire  to  rank  among  the  great 
libraries  of  the  country,  but  it  belongs  to  the 
family,  and  therefore  some  reference  to  its  ances- 
tors and  relations  cannot  be  considered  entirely 
out  of  place. 

The  immediate  purpose  for  which  this  library 
is  intended  is  to  furnish  the  working  men  and 
mechanics  of  Chestnut  Hill,  who  have  not  lei- 
sure or  opportunity  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
advantages  of  the  city  libraries,  with  instructive 
and  entertaining  reading.  I  have  heard  some  criti- 
cisms upon  the  name  which  the  founder  has  seen 
fit  to  give  to  this  library  and  building.*  But  when 
it  is  known  that  his  object  in  giving  it  this  designa- 
tion was  to  indicate  that  its  advantages  are  not  to 

*  Christian  Hall. 


AN  ADDRESS.  3 1 

be  confined  to  any  sect  or  religious  community,  but 
are  to  be  the  common  property  of  all  men  who 
may  choose  to  resort  here,  such  criticism  is  at  once 
completely  disarmed  and  ended.  Doubtless  also  the 
name  was  partly  suggested  by  the  founder's  rever- 
ence and  love  for  that  one  sacred,  comprehensive 
catholic  word,  which  unites  in  one  common  and 
indissoluble  bond  men  of  all  true  religions  of  all 
nations,  of  all  times,  and  of  all  conditions  of  human 
life.  To  this  library  and  lecture-room  all  are 
invited  to  resort  who  may  desire  to  do  so,  what- 
ever may  be  their  belief  or  unbelief.  The  oppor- 
tunities of  improvement  are  freely  offered  to  all; 
for  well  he  knew  who  built  this  house  and  stocked 
these  shelves,  that  knowledge  is  everywhere  the 
handmaid  of  true  religion,  and  that  whoever  shall 
seek  to  improve  his  mind  by  reading  and  study  will 
improve  and  elevate  his  immortal  nature,  and  be  by 
that  much  at  least  so  much  nearer  unto  heaven. 

In  i860  there  were  in  Pennsylvania,  in  a  popu- 
lation of  about  three  millions,  81,000  persons  over 
twenty  years  of  age  who  could  not  read  and  write. 
Yet  reading  and  writing  are  by  no  means  difficult 
to  be  learned.  They  may  be  acquired  with  rea- 
sonable diligence  in  the  rainy  days  and  spare  even- 
ings of  a  single  winter.  But  the  greatest  promoter 
of  this  ignorance  is  laziness  and  the  absence  of 
ambition  to  learn.  If  these  persons  would  but 
reflect   that    their    voluntary   ignorance    consigns 


32 


AN  ADDRESS. 


them  to  an  inferior  caste  and  deprives  them  of  the 
most  enduring  and  unalloyed  pleasures  which  the 
mind  of  man  is  capable  of  enjoying,  they  would 
surely  make  some  effort  to  break  out  of  the  thick 
wall  of  darkness  which  surrounds  them,  and  to 
come  out  into  the  sunlight  of  knowledge  and  of 
that  true  equality  which  knowledge  bestows.  The 
history  of  modern  times  contains  many  examples  of 
men  who,  having  by  the  force  of  their  own  strong 
wills  overcome  the  rugged  difficulties  and  adverse 
fortunes  which  hemmed  in  their  youth,  and 
having  learned  to  read  after  coming  to  man's  es- 
tate, have  attained  to  eminence  in  some  walk  of 
life,  and  have  often,  to  the  world's  astonishment, 
shown  ability  to  manage  even  the  greatest  affairs. 
Let  no  one  repine,  therefore,  because  by  lack  of 
early  advantages  he  has  come  late  into  this  vine- 
yard to  labor.  It  may  be  that  the  Master  will 
reward  him  equally  with  those  who  came  in  the 
first  blush  of  the  early  dawn. 

To  those  whose  education  has  not  been  alto- 
gether neglected,  and  who,  in  learning  to  read, 
have  acquired  the  golden  key  which  unlocks  all 
the  treasures  of  knowledge,  the  library  which  is 
opened  to-night  presents  opportunities  never  before 
enjoyed  in  this  locality.  Here  are  books  of  all 
kinds,  2000  volumes  well  selected,  ready  for  your 
use.  If  you  would  learn  something  of  the  people, 
the  productions,  the  customs,  the  institutions,  the 


AN  ADDRESS. 


33 


curiosities  of  distant  lands,  here  are  entertaining 
books  of  travel  enough  to  beguile  many  an  hour. 
If  you  would  read  the  record  of  human  vicissitudes 
in  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations,  or  that  which  con- 
tains the  stirring  story  of  the  early  settlement  and 
progress  of  your  own  country,  here  are  histories 
which  disclose  it  all.  If  you  would  read  the  lives 
of  great  men,  great  in  power,  or  goodness,  or 
science,  or  art,  or  arms,  or  knowledge,  here  are 
books  wherein  their  story  is  told,  often  more 
strange  than  any  fiction.  If  you  would  cheat 
time  of  its  heavy  moments,  and  escape  for  awhile 
from  the  dull  prose  of  your  daily  life,  here  are 
fictions  of  all  kinds  to  interest  and  delight  you. 
You  may  surround  yourself  with  the  romance  and 
the  pageantry  of  the  elder  novelists,  or  amuse 
yourselves  with  the  lighter  literature  of  the  pre- 
sent time.  You  may  wander  through  the  fasci- 
nating scenes  described  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  or 
laugh  and  weep  alternately  over  the  wonderful 
portraiture  of  Dickens,  that  master  painter  of  the 
poor,  who  taught  mankind  by  many  pleasant  ways 
that  everywhere  and  in  all  men  there  is  something 
good,  something  to  be  loved  and  admired.  If 
your  tastes  lead  you  in  the  direction  of  the  arts 
and  sciences,  you  may  find  enough  about  them 
here  to  occupy  all  your  leisure  hours.  If  you 
would  keep  up  even  with  the  world,  breast  to 
breast  with  its  daily  history,  here  are  newspapers 

3 


34 


AN  ADDRESS. 


which  will  inform  you  as  to  what  happened  on 
yesterday  in  Paris,  at  London,  at  Berlin,  at  Wash- 
ington, at  San  Francisco,  or  in  China.  In  short, 
turn  whatever  way  you  will,  here  is  spread  a  ban- 
quet for  the  mind  forever  fresh,  forever  pure, 
forever  free  to  all. 

I  would  that  my  voice  to-night  could  reach 
every  workingman  who  dwells  on  Chestnut  Hill, 
that  I  might  in  the  name  of  the  founder  of  this 
benevolent  enterprise  invite  him  to  come  and  use 
freely  for  his  instruction  and  amusement  the  ad- 
vantages which  are  here  prepared  for  him  ;  that 
I  might  say  to  him,  this  hall  is  built  for  you,  this 
library  is  collected  for  you.  Come  here  on  your 
rainy  days,  in  your  vacant  hours,  in  your  long 
evenings  and  see  what  profit  and  amusement  you 
may  here  obtain.  Labor  is  honorable,  labor  is 
God's  universal  law  imposed  on  all  created  things. 
The  stars  and  planets  labor  in  their  appointed 
courses.  Seas,  and  rivers,  and  plants,  and  animals 
labor  to  perform  the  functions  which  God  has 
ordained  for  them.  Labor  is  necessary  for  society, 
for  government,  for  families,  for  ourselves.  So 
necessary  that  he  is  truly  to  be  pitied  who  has  not 
some  labor  to  do.  But  labor  is  not  the  sole  duty 
of  life.  Some  hours  must  be  allotted  to  the  mind, 
to  its  exercise,  its  improvement,  its  cultivation,  its 
amusement.  The  man  who  always  labors  and 
never  thinks  soon  becomes  a  worn-out  engine,  and 


AN  ADDRESS.  35 

shortens  his  days.  Here  you  may  repair  your 
exhausted  strength.  Here  you  may  derive  amuse- 
ment and  pleasure.  Here  you  may  acquire  new 
ideas  which  will  assist  you  in  your  labor,  which 
will  improve  your  circumstances,  which  will  in- 
crease your  influence,  which  will  add  to  your 
happiness,  and  help  you  to  a  higher  and  better 
state  of  life.  For  knowledge  is  like  the  ladder 
which  Jacob  saw  in  his  dream.  Great  and  good 
thoughts  are  continually  ascending  and  descending 
like  angels  thereon,  and  its  top  is  in  heaven. 

Let  me  say,  in  conclusion,  that  when  I  was  re- 
quested by  the  founder  of  this  library  to  deliver 
an  address  upon  the  occasion  of  its  being  opened 
to  the  public,  I  was  particularly  charged  by  him 
not  to  speak  of  him  in  connection  with  it.  I 
have  already  disobeyed  that  injunction.  My  duty 
to  the  people  of  this  place,  and  my  own  sense  of 
propriety  upon  the  present  occasion,  require  me 
to  disobey  it  still  further,  even  at  the  risk  of  his 
rebuke  for  so  doing.  For  I  feel  that  I  should  be 
but  a  poor  interpreter  of  the  feelings  of  the  work- 
ingmen  of  Chestnut  Hill,  and  of  the  public  senti- 
ment which  prevails  in  this  community  if  I  did 
not  here  publicly  thank  him  in  the  name  of  all 
the  people  of  Chestnut  Hill  for  this  wise  and 
generous  benefaction. 


/        '       OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

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